Titus Andronicus Essay

Shakespeare’s “Titus Andronicus” is one of the most action filled and violent plays in all of Shakespeare’s writings. One of the moments that really stood out from the play was Lavinia’s rape. It was portrayed as being gruesome, barbaric and very terrifying. What happened to Lavinia completely changed the whole storyline. It went from Tamora seeking revenge against Titus for her murdered son, to Titus himself seeking revenge against Tamora for Lavinia’s rape. Marcus’s discovery of her after the hunt was well portrayed in the film; however, it was quite different from the book. When Marcus saw Lavinia, he had a speech. In the book, what he said was very long and complicated, which gives the reader a sense of unrealism, as no sane person would …show more content…
Both were effective, and they had the same goal: to demonstrate how horrible Lavinia’s situation was. In the book, the scenery took place in a forest that had, at the same time, peaceful and violent characteristics. The forest was a place of peacefulness and calmness, but at the same time, it was a place where there was no law. In the movie however, they tried to show that the location where Lavinia was found was a very spooky place. Marcus had to get out of the forest; he found Lavinia in a swamp, full of dead trees, mud and bushes. At the time he found her, there were a lot of dark clouds in the sky, making that scene look quite scary. Adding the wind almost made it look like it was an apocalypse. In the book during Marcus’s speech, it was difficult to imagine what his face looked like when he saw Lavinia. It was also hard to imagine what tone he used when he said that long speech. In the film, Marcus looked very shocked. The camera zoomed into his face, showing how wide his eyes and mouth were open. There was sad background music, adding an eerie feeling to the viewer. Overall, the same scene looked scarier in the movie, and in the book, it was more of a sad